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Eat The Rich, 7th and T Street in Shaw - Now an Oyster Bar Concept - Closed


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You know, looking at the menu online, I am only mildly interested in coming here, but in reading this thread and looking at the food in its form to completion really has me wanting to come here. :) Need to convince my wife!

A couple of questions for those that have been (here or Southern Efficiency)--

There do not appear to be pictures of the interior online, and those I have seen seem to show bar eating only. Is this the case - just bar seating? And if the pictures are correct, no backrest to the bar chairs?

This does not seem to be the kind of place you can linger and chat and people watch, etc. Is it?

How's parking around there? Is it a better idea to just figure out the metro logistics (I drive to work in Bethesda but live in Laurel)?

TIA

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There are a number of tables, it's not just bar seating. The bar stools do not have backrests. As long as you aren't nursing a drink at a table for 2 hours, I haven't seen any issues with camping out and people watching.

On a weeknight, you can probably find a meter without too much difficulty, but don't even think of driving there on a weekend evening. Many of the streets are zoned parking ONLY until midnight - not even 2 hour parking. Not enough paid lots, and not enough metered spots to deal with the demand.

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"Are You Gonna Eat That? Eat The Rich's Eel and Snakehead Pies" by Laura Hayes on washingtoncitypaper.com

[Just a note to chefs and restaurateurs: If you post something here at this level of quality, you can be sure I'm going to Tweet about it, and it's going to reach the entire restaurant community within days if not hours. It's the only publicity you need - total marketing cost to you = $0.00. If you want to pay a PR rep $2,000 a month instead, be my guest.]

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OK folks - I finally, finally made it here. Why, why, why have I waited this long? :blink:  Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?!?!? :huh: (do the last why in your best Captain Kirk saying 'Kahn!' voice in your head). B)

Before I get in to the details of the actual food and experience, I thought I'd share some thoughts about the space and the area and the staff first.  Here goes!  It is very metro friendly. Parking, while not great, is not impossible to find (I lucked out with a spot right below 7th and S - maybe Labor Day Weekend luck? And it was at 6PM.). The neighborhood is in transition and interesting for that - very nice mix of people and things going on.  When I was looking for how I was going to drive down there after work from Bethesda, I realized Eat The Rich is right near The Howard Theater (note to self - always make sure to hit up ETR or SE before a show going forward!) - cool!

The space itself is kind of unassuming. I walked right by it before I realized I went to far. Since it was such a spectacular day yesterday, I was hoping they had outdoor seating, but alas no. You head in to a long hall of a bar and some side tables. No seat backs to anything unfortunately (But I guess the idea is to not hang around for 3 or 4 hours, so no seat backs probably helps this along) - so if you have back issues, you might be a bit uncomfortable.  In the back are communal bench style seating tables, also with no seat backs, but they have a raised bar where servers can place drinks and newly arrived dishes for you to ogle (and photo) before you grab them and dig in to them.

It's very, very casual there, not too loud (it was about 50% capacity as time went on over the hour and a half we were there) and the staff is friendly, engaging and knowledgeable. Really good service.

Now on to the food and drink! We started off with a Bitter B.o.b.b.y. (a nice brown drink with layers of flavor - strong but not obnoxious) and a Southside (really fresh and delicious (and devious!). Continued on with an Oyster Back (Rye followed with a pickle juice oyster slurp - this was great - more so for the pickle juice oyster experience (I love pickle juice and this was a lighter almost herbal variation that allowed the oyster to shine), but accentuated by the Rye Vapors still emanating from my gullet as I tipped back the OPJ - nice!), then a WIldflower (from the pitchers menu - but do know this can be ordered by the glass too!) - the drink of the night. Wow. So good. Finished up with a 'There Goes the Neighborhood' slushy. A slushy? Really? Me order a slushy? I know! But this was a deceptively good drink - at first you may be overwhelmed by the blackberries, but then realize the nuance of the honey and the bright lemon all held together by the rye backbone. Quite good - and dangerous because it would be easy to drink gallons of this and then wake up someplace strange and wonder what happened.  ^_^  I was happy with all of the drinks options - did not even bother to ask about the wines, but it doesn't quite seem that kind of place - though some of the food would go really well with certain kinds of wines.

Redneck Caviar - lumpfish roe and Route 11 potato chips -- Quite good, I liked the combo of the roe with the sour cream the best, but the onion and egg in various combinations on the chips was delicious too. The chips were crispy and delicious - no slouch there (but it is hard to beat Sixth Engine's chips - ETR's come very close though)
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Beach and Beans: tuna, mackerel, clams, squid, and black-eyed peas - so good. Bright and lively and the seafood was marvelous and dressed well. The 'beans' must have also been included in the dressing due to its viscosity and un-clarity (a great idea).

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Fluke Fish Pie with Mushroom Catsup and pickled goodies - This was sooooo good. While I was hoping for snakehead, the fluke was quite fine. And this dish is so about the combinations of the flavors  IMHO. This is not to say that, if you took a nice hunk of the fish pie and just ate it just so, that you would be disappointed - it is great. But it is elevated to new heights with a dab of the mushroom catsup applied or dipped, or followed by an immediate chaser of pickled cauliflower. It will be hard to not order this on future trips here.

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(Redfish?) Poached in consomme with shrimp, squid, onions and carrots - I think the fish we had may not have been redfish, but I forgot to jot it down. Still, it was delicious. The shrimp was astonishing for it was not only perfectly cooked, but also because it somehow in that short 'cook' absorbed so much of the flavor of the consomme. And my gosh, the consomme - wow. It is great to see different variations of consomme now from the folks that learned from the master (Frank Ruta of Palena) - all different, but so, so good. My wife and I were fighting over this dish. And the thing about this consomme was that, while purely all fish/seafood based in its prep, it tasted so darn meaty! Magic I tell you, sorcery in a bowl!

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Roasted Summer Beets and Greens - with toasted marcona almonds and sherry shallot vinaigrette  - This was perhaps the only misstep. It is not a bad salad. It works, is tasty, and the source material (the beets) were great. But it just seemed to be lacking something - more slices of beets (there were some, but lots of it was in chunks)? More almonds? Cheese? Not sure. This dish did just not stand up to the same quality level as the other dishes we had that evening.

(No picture - ooops!)

Marinated Bluefish with ratatouille - Arguably the dish of the night. The bluefish was pretty spectacular, but the ratatouille was the masterwork of this dish - and together you will have foodgasms. Order this. Don't think, just stop and order this. Now.

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Montgomery Pie - A perfect ending. I have never had this before. But my wife, a PA Dutchy girl, has had this many, many times. And she said this is the best version she has ever had. Lighter than you would expect and deep, deep in flavor. The salted caramel gelato is really almost unnecessary (I said almost!), but very good. This dish is about the pie itself and it is great.

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We had a great time and a great meal here. We got to chat briefly with the chef at the end - wonderful, great unassuming guy who knows his craft well. A treat to meet him finally. Side note - the bathrooms are in the back hall, right outside of the kitchen doors where, the doors have little porthole windows that you can sneak a peek in the kitchen to see the folks doing there thing.

We'll be back with glee. I just wich they had seat-backs!

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OK folks - I finally, finally made it here. Why, why, why have I waited this long? :blink:  Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?!?!? :huh: (do the last why in your best Captain Kirk saying 'Kahn!' voice in your head). B)

I've been three times now, and I think it's the best pure seafood restaurant in the area. 

Because you were reading the wrong websites. ;)

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I'm in agreement with Don.  ETR is fantastic all around.  I love the juxtaposition of the fine-dining food with the laid back bar setting.  It's kind of become the only restaurant I want to go to anymore.

I agree wholeheartedly.  And, like Seki (I know, a very different thing altogether -- but likewise under the heading of great seafood), it's very reasonably priced, considering the high quality of food.  Compare, for example, the new Pop's SeaBar, by the folks who run Cashion's Eat Place.  It's trying to be a variant of Pearl Dive, and if last night's meal was any indication, it's perfectly fine -- I had a perfectly decent fried oyster sandwich.  But it was nothing special; it was $12; and I counted only three or so oysters in it.  All you need to know:  They're charging $6 for a Natty Boh.  At Eat the Rich, by contrast -- perhaps because of lower rental costs? -- the value for your $$ is very much on the plate, and in your glass.

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I agree wholeheartedly.  And, like Seki (I know, a very different thing altogether -- but likewise under the heading of great seafood), it's very reasonably priced, considering the high quality of food.

Thanks for the shout out. I <3 Julien and Eat the Rich too. Delighted to be considered in the same camp. :)

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I haven't had a chance to really eat the food but I can comment on the drinks. Since this was just my first time, it could be an off night, and I'm going to be going back but so far I was mildly disappointed, especially considering the owner.

 I first ordered a Moscow mule which was excellent, but served in a tumbler not  copper mug (which is fine since i read an article about everyone stealing them). i did have an issue with the Hemingway daiquiri. it also came in a tumbler glass and was full of crushed ice. i wouldn't mind except that it was advertised as a Hemingway daiquiri, so i was expecting it in a coupe with no ice. Also, the service was spotty.  They forgot my drink order and didn't even offer to comp it. They also seriously need to install some sort of drapes in strategic places as the noise level is off the charts. 

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Most places I've had a Hemingway daiquiri serve it straight up in a coupe, that's definitely the conventional modern presentation.  However, the "original" HD actually was a frozen drink, made in a blender later on from what I gather.  Philip Greene has an excellent book on Hemingway, and the third slide in this article shows the original frappe version.

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But I really posted this because I have a beef with Derek.

You see, once when I was young restless and had no circus to run off to, I became an Presidential Campaign Advance Guy, traveling the small towns of swing states with a bag of audio cable and an eye for the local girls.  It was a lot like being in rock and roll band one hot single from success: we were rich enough to cover the bar tabs, energetic enough to work bizarre hours on little sleep, wild enough (and good enough) to have great stories to tell (over and over and over again, in retrospect) and dumb enough to think we were changing the world.  It was a great time, yielding good friends and a couple of odd habits that even today evoke fond memories.

One of those habits was leaving each town behind with a shot of whiskey at the airport bar -- even if it meant pulling the stools off the bar somewhere around breakfast time -- before my friends flew off to their next events and I flew off to mine.  The whiskey became Irish and then, more specifically, Jameson when a friend objected to Protestant whiskey (ie Bushmill's).  So Jameson is closely identified in my mind with close friends, a great era, and a happy morning buzz. It's important to me.

So, imaging my heartache when I read this:

"Every douchebag in the world started drinking Jameson," says Derek Brown.... "It's like one of those things where you're like, "˜I don't know. Do I want to be drinking Jameson if that guy's drinking Jameson? Because that guy has date rape and vomit written all over him, and I'm not into that.'"

How can I drink Jameson, especially at 10AM in a strange airport, now that I know Derek and the world will look at me as I throw it back and think "date rape and vomit"?

A treasured part of my mis-spent youth has been stolen away by Derek Brown. I will get him for that.

(Tom Brown, who correctly observes in the same article that "Jameson is a breakfast whiskey," will be spared.)

That was an interesting article.  Thanks.  On one hand I can confirm from our contacts that GM and Jameson's became industry late night favorites during the past decade.  As to the former popularity of Irish Mist, I couldn't comment.  With regard to current trends favoring Old Overholt and a shot of Natty Boh interesting to know.  I for one, don't make it to fave industry hangouts anymore.

Now I wouldn't ruin my fond memories connecting Jameson's with an exciting period of the past based on one person's comments.  You could connect that sordid description to virtually any alcohol.  Its not the Jameson's.  Its the fault of the "douchebags"

But thinking about "Natty Boh" on the day the Oriole's clinched the American League Eastern Division at home takes me back to earlier days with "Natty Boh".  Having moved to Baltimore at the very end of the 60's and stayed there through the mid 70's. "Natty Boh" was ever present; though I don't recall it ever going by that name through the 70's into the 80's and beyond.  It was always National Boh, a local beer, that was nothing special but defiantly local, popular and cheap.

It was never as popular as during the late 1970's and into the first half of the 1980's when local hero "Wild Bill Hagy" was the featured Baltimore Baseball Fan Star in Section 34 of the upper deck at old Memorial Stadium where the Orioles and the Colts played.

Wild Bill would sit in this upper deck tier in the first row right by the aisle.  The reason of course was that it was immediately adjacent to the exit and fast access to the men's rooms.  Wild Bill drank his National Boh and led fans in tremendous cheers featuring his curvaceous renditions of O.R.I.O.L.E.S to the delight of crowded stadiums.

I'm sure more National Boh was drunk per square inch of Section 34 in the upper deck per hour of Orioles games than at any time in any place before or after.

On this day following the Oriole's clinching the American League East Pennant its worthwhile to go back and take a gander at this true Baltimore hero and established imbiber of National Boh or Natty Boh:  (I spent many a fond evening at section 34 with Wild Bill and other fans)

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That was an interesting article.  Thanks.  On one hand I can confirm from our contacts that GM and Jameson's became industry late night favorites during the past decade.  As to the former popularity of Irish Mist, I couldn't comment.  With regard to current trends favoring Old Overholt and a shot of Natty Boh interesting to know.  I for one, don't make it to fave industry hangouts anymore.  

Both my time as a server on the DC bar scene and as an occasional visitor to Memorial Stadium were the late 70s and early 80s, and I can confirm that we used to put away a frightening quantity of Irish Mist, and that Natty Boh was the prefered beverage of the Earl Weaver era.

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"Every douchebag in the world started drinking Jameson," says Derek Brown.... "It's like one of those things where you're like, "˜I don't know. Do I want to be drinking Jameson if that guy's drinking Jameson? Because that guy has date rape and vomit written all over him, and I'm not into that.'"

How can I drink Jameson, especially at 10AM in a strange airport, now that I know Derek and the world will look at me as I throw it back and think "date rape and vomit"?

A treasured part of my mis-spent youth has been stolen away by Derek Brown. I will get him for that.

(Tom Brown, who correctly observes in the same article that "Jameson is a breakfast whiskey," will be spared.)

I drink a lot of Jameson, almost always in the presence of someone born in Galway (or because of him). I love Derek, but he's too harsh on Jameson because of the "douches drink it" factor. I'm right there with Tom on this one.

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Figures Trautmann would work at a fish joint.  :)

I might hold the applause for the moment given the departure of Julian to where?

Oh, I'm not saying the departure of Julien doesn't sting, but given that, it's nice to see this triptych of bars got themselves another real chef.

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Oh, I'm not saying the departure of Julien doesn't sting, but given that, it's nice to see this triptych of bars got themselves another real chef.

Has he already departed?  Where to?  "Sting" doesn't begin to cover it.  That was a match made in heaven (from the customer side, of things, of course).

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We went again before seeing Trombone Shorty recently.  It is....different to an extent. Not bad in any way at all, just different. I love both chefs and I love what they do. I'll be back here still, for sure, if only for quick drinks and a bite (please, please, please please consider at least SOME seating with seat backs for us peeps with back issues!).

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Any further reports on the post-Shapiro incarnation?  (And any word on where Julien ended up?)

We went again before seeing Trombone Shorty recently.  It is....different to an extent. Not bad in any way at all, just different. I love both chefs and I love what they do. I'll be back here still, for sure, if only for quick drinks and a bite (please, please, please please consider at least SOME seating with seat backs for us peeps with back issues!).

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On 8/3/2016 at 6:19 PM, DaveO said:

I'm actually not much of a drinker any more.  But the other day I had a great summery cocktail at Eat the Rich.  Hey: count on the magicians over there to come up with great cocktails.

---

That team knows its stuff.

I agree - they do a great job on the cocktails front, for sure.

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5 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Eat the Rich is closing on May 31.

Bummer.  Of the trio of storefronts making up that space I thought that Eat the Rich was the strongest.  I wonder if they are turning that space into a permanent, rotating pop-up bar space.  Judging by the lines that went down the block every time they've done that I can't exactly blame them.

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2 hours ago, TedE said:

Bummer.  Of the trio of storefronts making up that space I thought that Eat the Rich was the strongest.  I wonder if they are turning that space into a permanent, rotating pop-up bar space.  Judging by the lines that went down the block every time they've done that I can't exactly blame them.

When Julien was there, it surpassed BlackSalt as the best seafood restaurant in the DC area, from a diner's perspective (this is just before Fiola Mare opened, so I'm off the hook in having to make *that* comparison - I wouldn't even know how to begin).

"But Fiola Mare opened when Julien was still ch ..."

[Plugs ears]

"LA, LA-LA LA LA, I CAN'T HEAR YOOOUUUUU !!!"

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1 hour ago, DonRocks said:

When Julien was there, it surpassed BlackSalt as the best seafood restaurant in the DC area, from a diner's perspective (this is just before Fiola Mare opened, so I'm off the hook in having to make *that* comparison - I wouldn't even know how to begin).

"But Fiola Mare opened when Julien was still ch ..."

[Plugs ears]

"LA, LA-LA LA LA, I CAN'T HEAR YOOOUUUUU !!!"

I miss Julien's food. Plus, he's a great guy.

poo.

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On 5/27/2019 at 12:16 PM, DonRocks said:

Five years ago, Eat the Rich had dethroned, not only BlackSalt, but *everything*, as "Best Seafood in DC," without any serious competition, but after Julien Shapiro left, that went to hell very quickly. I mean, click on that link for a reminder of just how great this restaurant was.

Nothing could be more true. What an amazing ride that was for as brief as it was. Blown away was I.

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